Your Friends Have More Friends than You Do

Sep 3, 2017

Henry

Heather

|

|

Helen

—

Cindy

—

Carlos

—

Olivia

—

Harold

|

|

Harry

Hector

Most people have (on average) fewer friends than their friends have.

It’s one of those things that are obvious once you think about it, but not before. You just need to realize that you are more likely to be friends with someone who has many friends, like Cindy, Carlos, or Olivia in this example.

Friends

Average friends of friends

Henry

1

Cindy(4)

4

Heather

1

Carlos(4)

4

Helen

1

Cindy(4)

4

Cindy

4

Henry(1), Carlos(4), Harry(1), Helen(1)

(1+4+1+1)/4=1.75

Carlos

4

Heather(1), Olivia(2), Hector(1), Cindy(4)

(1+2+1+4)/4=2

Olivia

2

Harold(1), Carlos(4)

(1+4)/2=2.5

Harold

1

Olivia(2)

2

Harry

1

Cindy(4)

4

Hector

1

Carlos(4)

4

Average

1.78

3.14

One would think some ancient mathematician or philosopher could come up with this idea. Yet there is no trace of it until 1991, when Scott L. Feld published his article in the American Journal of Sociology.